PALESTINIAN STATE - PALESTINE
Israeli settlements ‘systematically erode’ viability of Palestinian State
The UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process on Wednesday expressed deep concern over the relentless expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/09/1141572
Ban terms Israeli settlement push illegal
UN chief terms proposed building of 1,000 homes in two occupied West Bank settlements 'violation of international law'.
Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, has termed Israeli plans to press ahead with the construction of more than 1,000 homes in two occupied West Bank settlements "a violation of international law", according to his spokesperson.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/06/201361418841815642.html
Palestinians win implicit U.N. recognition of sovereign state
The 193-nation U.N. General Assembly on Thursday overwhelmingly approved the de facto recognition of a sovereign Palestinian state after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called on the world body to issue its long overdue "birth certificate."
There were 138 votes in favor, nine against and 41 abstentions. Three countries did not take part in the vote to upgrade the Palestinian Authority's observer status at the United Nations to "non-member state" from "entity."
The assembly approved the upgrade despite threats by the United States and Israel to punish the Palestinians by withholding funds for the West Bank government. U.N. envoys said Israel might avoid harsh retaliation as long as the Palestinians did not seek to join the International Criminal Court.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/29/us-palestinians-statehood-idUSBRE8AR0EG20121129
Q+A-What's all the fuss about a Palestinian U.N. upgrade?
WHAT IS NON-MEMBER STATE STATUS?
The Palestinian Authority is currently considered an "entity," not a state at the United Nations. If the resolution is approved by the U.N. General Assembly as expected, that status will change to "non-member state," like the Vatican.
Switzerland also had non-member state status until it joined the United Nations as a full voting member 10 years ago.
Recognition as a non-member state will have a certain symbolic value, giving the Palestinians a higher profile in terms of speaking order during U.N. meetings. But they will still be unable to vote during General Assembly sessions.
The change will also have important legal implications.
The Palestinians will be able to join the International Criminal Court (ICC) and some specialized U.N. bodies like the International Atomic Energy Agency.
CAN THE U.N. RECOGNIZE PALESTINE AS A SOVEREIGN STATE?
The United Nations cannot grant countries recognition. That is something that is done on a bilateral basis. However, the granting of non-member state status to the Palestinian Authority does acknowledge that the majority of U.N. member states do recognize Palestine as an independent state.
Traditionally, universal recognition of state sovereignty is accompanied by full membership in the United Nations. That is something the Palestinians sought last year with much fanfare but failed to achieve because the United States used the threat of a veto in the Security Council to block the Palestinian U.N. membership application.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/29/palestinians-statehood-idUSL1E8MT4AQ20121129
Abbas: No contradiction between Hamas, peace
PA president tells US envoy reconciliation deal is a Palestinian national need; Netanyahu says PA has embraced terrorists.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas insisted that there is no contradiction between continuing the peace process with Israel and Fatah reconciliation with Hamas, in a meeting with US Mideast envoy David Hale in Ramallah Wednesday.
Abbas told Hale that concluding the reconciliation deal with Hamas is a Palestinian national need, adding that peace with Israel is a strategic choice, official PLO news agency WAFA reported.
http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=257036
Citing economic toll on Palestinians, Ban calls for end to Israeli occupation
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today renewed his call for progress in the Middle East peace process, citing the toll taken on the economy and lives of the Palestinians by the ongoing Israeli occupation.
“Economic progress cannot be reached and sustained absent a credible political solution on the horizon,” Mr. Ban told participants at the UN Seminar on Assistance to the Palestinian People, which is taking place in Cairo and organized by the General Assembly’s Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=41145&Cr=Palestin&Cr1=
Gingrich stands by 'invented' Palestinians remark
US presidential hopeful says he supports two-state solution but defends controversial comments about Palestinians.
Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich has declared his support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but declined to use a pre-debate speech in Iowa to step back from earlier controversial remarks in which he described Palestinians as an "invented people".
The burden to show a willingness to reach a peace accord with the Israelis lies squarely with the Palestinians, Gingrich told a veterans forum in a theatre near Drake University in Des Moines on Saturday.
"When the president keeps talking about a peace process while Hamas keeps firing missiles into Israel, if we had a country next to us firing missiles, how eager would we be to sit down and negotiate?
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/americas/2011/12/2011121134849161706.html
UNESCO clears way for Palestine seat vote
US secretary of state urges UN body to "think again" after its executive committee backs the Palestinian membership bid.
Palestine has won a first diplomatic victory in its quest for statehood when the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation [UNESCO] executive committee backed its bid to become a member of the cultural body with the rights of a state.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/10/201110523540744569.html
Palestinians submit statehood request to UN
President Mahmoud Abbas says time has come to end the suffering and the plight of millions of Palestinians.
Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas has handed over a historic request to UN chief Ban Ki-moon, asking the United Nations to admit the state of Palestine as a full member.
The Palestinian leader won huge applause and a standing ovation on Friday as he entered the hall just after submitting the membership request.
"I call upon the distinguished members of the Security Council to vote in favour of our full membership," Abbas told the UN General Assembly.
"I do not believe that anyone with a shred of conscience can reject our application for a full membership in the United Nations and our admission as an independent state," Abbas said.
In his address, Abbas said he was ready to return to negotiations based on the 1967 borders, saying he did not want to isolate or delegitimise Israel.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/09/201192312433584593.html
Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah agree unity pact
The leaders of Fatah and Hamas, the main Palestinian factions, have signed a deal in Egypt's capital Cairo aimed at ending their four-year rift.
Palestinian Authority president and Fatah party leader Mahmoud Abbas said Palestinians had decided to "turn the black page of division for ever"
Correspondents say the recent Arab uprisings have given fresh momentum to reconciliation.
The agreement paves the way for a joint interim government ahead of national elections next year.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-13277734
Palestinian factions celebrate unity deal
Various groups come together in Cairo to mark reconciliation agreement despite calls from Israel to scrap it.
Speaking at the ceremony, Abbas said Palestinians had turned the "black page" of division between the two rivals.
"We announce to Palestinians that we turn forever the black page of division," he said.
Taking the podium after Abbas, Meshaal said that his group's "only fight is with Israel" and that the four-year-old rift with Fatah was "behind us".
"Our aim is to establish a free and completely sovereign Palestinian state on the West Bank and Gaza Strip, whose capital is Jerusalem, without any settlers and without giving up a single inch of land and without giving up on the right of return [of Palestinian refugees]."
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/05/20115434236113769.html
Palestinian rivals Fatah and Hamas 'agree to end rift'
The Fatah party of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas, which governs Gaza, have agreed a reconciliation deal, officials say.
Under the Egyptian-brokered deal, an interim government will be formed and a date fixed for elections.
The groups have been divided for more than four years, with Hamas in power in Gaza and Fatah running the West Bank.
Israel immediately said that the Palestinian Authority could not have peace with both Hamas and Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: "I hope the Palestinian Authority will make the right choice - peace with Israel."
Hamas has carried out bombings and rocket attacks against Israel for years and does not recognise its right to exist.
The US responded to the news by saying that any Palestinian unity government would have to renounce violence and recognise Israel.
Thousands of Palestinians protested in Gaza this month, calling for reconciliation.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-13215062
The split between Fatah and Hamas occurred when violence erupted a year after Hamas won Palestinian elections in 2006. Hamas seized control of Gaza in 2007.
Palestinian Authority largely ready to govern, UN says
The government in the West Bank is largely ready to govern a Palestinian state, the United Nations has said.
The Palestinian Authority (PA) has successfully built some institutions and public services required for a future state, the UN said in a report.
But it warned that the PA's efforts could only go so far without resolving its conflict with Israel and the division with the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-13051355
In Israel, Time for Peace Offer May Run Out
With revolutionary fervor sweeping the Middle East, Israel is under mounting pressure to make a far-reaching offer to the Palestinians or face a United Nations vote welcoming the State of Palestine as a member whose territory includes all of the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem.
The Palestinian Authority has been steadily building support for such a resolution in September, a move that could place Israel into a diplomatic vise. Israel would be occupying land belonging to a fellow United Nations member, land it has controlled and settled for more than four decades and some of which it expects to keep in any two-state solution.http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/03/world/middleeast/03mideast.html
PM’s latest stance on Palestinian state likely a thank-you
Analysis: Netanyahu pledges commitment to Palestinianstatehood perhaps in response to US veto of UN anti-settlement resolution.
In what could be the initial repayment to the US for its Friday veto of the Palestinian anti-settlement resolution in the UN Security Council, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu went further toward embracing the idea of a Palestinian state in a statement he issued Saturday night than in any of his previous speeches or statements.
This was the first time that Netanyahu came out and endorsed Palestinian statehood in such unequivocal language, and this statement – coordinated with Washington – is not believed to be divorced from the US agreement to veto the resolution.
http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=209297
Al Jazeera Cites Palestinian Offer of Concessions
Despite longstanding protests against the construction of Jewish developments in contested areas, Palestinian negotiators agreed to cede large tracts of Jerusalem to Israel during peace negotiations in recent years, according to a set of documents Al Jazeera says it has obtained.
The materials suggest that the chief Palestinian negotiator at the time, Ahmed Qurei, “proposed that Israel annexes all settlements in Jerusalem,” except for the Jewish district known as Har Homa.
“This is the first time in history that we make such a proposition,” Mr. Qurei was quoted as saying during a June 2008 meeting with his Israeli counterparts and Condoleezza Rice, then the American secretary of state.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/24/world/middleeast/24nations.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
Congressman calls on U.S. to stop giving false hopes to Palestinians
U.S. Democrat Congressman Brian Bird on Monday called on the U.S. administration to stop giving the Palestinian people "false hopes."
Bird told reporters in the Gaza Strip that the United States must understand the real situation and achieve equality and justice in the region.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-02/16/c_13176336.htm
Abbas vows to walk in Arafat’s footsteps to Palestine
n Gaza, Hamas bans and disrupts events marking sixth anniversary of former leader’s death; PA president speaks at rally marking Arafat's death.
The Palestinian position remains unchanged – a Palestinian state free of settlements with Jerusalem as its capital and the right of refugees to return to their homeland, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas declared Thursday.
Abbas, who was speaking to supporters during a rally in Ramallah marking the sixth anniversary of the death of his predecessor, Yasser Arafat, also repeated his opposition to returning to the negotiating table with Israel as long as construction continued in the settlements.
Abbas added that he wouldn’t recognize Israel as a Jewish state, for fear that such a move would harm the status of Israel’s Arab minority and deprive Palestinian refugees of the right to return to their former homes.
http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=195026
Israeli presence on Palestinian land 'irreversible'
A UN human rights rapporteur has said continued settlement construction will probably make Israel's occupation of Palestinian land irreversible.
Richard Falk said the peace process aimed at creating an independent, sovereign Palestinian state therefore appeared to be based on an illusion.
He said the UN, the US and Israel had failed to uphold Palestinians' rights.
Israeli officials said Mr Falk's report on the Palestinian territories was biased and served a political agenda.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-11611658
How Israel founded the Palestinian state
Ynetnews analysis: History of terrible Israeli decisions that paved way for Palestinian state
Immediately following the Six Day War, the Arab League convened in Khartoum and passed the famous three No's resolution: No to peace, no to recognition and no to negotiations with Israel. Meanwhile, Israel also had No's of its own: No to pulling back to the '67 borders and no to a Palestinian state.
There were some weighty considerations behind the decision to oppose the establishment of a Palestinian state that are still relevant today. It was a national consensus that only the radical Left contested. However, despite clear resistance to the establishment of a Palestinian state, Israel has in fact been integral to the advancement of such a state.
The Jerusalem question
One of the main considerations behind Israel's original opposition to a Palestinian state was Jerusalem: The Muslims reigned over Jerusalem and the Land of Israel for over 1,000 years without ever declaring Jerusalem their capital. Muslim rule was briefly interrupted in Jerusalem for a century by the Crusades, who did declare Jerusalem to be their capital.